Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-08-24
A TALK ABOUT PARROTS.
Twenty Thousand PoIlys in tho
Metropolis.

Twenty Thousand PoIIys in tho
Metropolis.
The parrot population of New York
City Is estimated at twenty thousand.
Inc Pollys, as they are all called, with
out distinction of sex, are interesting
subjects OF study. There are good and
pad parrots. just as there are good chill
! dren and bad children. The bad parrot is
one which has not forgotten the harsh,
dlscordant screams of parrot language
IN the tropical forests, and indulges IN
them throughout the livelong day. He
Is also the possessor OF limited voca-
bulary of the "Polly wants a cracker''
style, whose endless reiteration is even
more aggravatingly annoying than his
natural screeching and chattering.
The screeching nuisance can be dis
couraged and ultimately reformed by
Judlclously administered punlshments.
The vocabulary can be extended and
made interesting by careful training,
and some melodious and tuneful
whlstllng may be taught as a pleasant
adjunct to the spoken word. The rea-
son there are so few good parrots Is
found IN the great mortality among
these birds. While in the process of
reformation and education they die in
such great numbers that a steady
stream of recruits Is necessarily kept
coming into the country. The result
Is TO keep down the proportion of good
parrots, birds that can talk consider
ably. sing something and whistle
tunes.
y reporter had his attention at
tracted by fine parrot the other day.
Stopping TO look at it his thoughts re-
Yerted TO the appalling death rate
among parrots. and he was pitying the
pretty fellow, when the latter suddenly
perked his head sideways with the
question: whats the matter with
you, hey?" followed by burst of up
roarious laughter. The owner of the
parrot was fer years a bird fancler.
sam Is very smart Bird" said he.
"When you are disposed to pity Sam
on account Of any impression on your
part that he is in any danger of losing
his excellent health, you are away of.
L have three other parrots in just as
good shape. 1t is the effect of their
care ana diet. They get no bread, no
coffee, no fruit, no vegetables. no
hemp seed, and especially 10 meat.
They do get plenty of good, plain
canary seed, water, and liberal supply
OF sand aud gravel. Two-thirds of the
mortality among parrots comes from
oyer-feeding. Some years ago L came
10 this conclusion. The birds that came
to me, sick and feverish, with ragged,
dull, and dirty plumage, were evil
IDENTIFY sufhrlng from dyspepsia, that
oyer-feedicg was the first thought as to
the cause. In their confined state, hay-
ing little or no exercise, they suffer If
they are stuffed with rich, heavy food.
at occurred to me that canary seed
contained all the necessary elements of
nourishment i'll sample, easily digesti-
ble form. l determined to make the
experiment. y sick parrot that was
brought i'll to me was chosen as prom
ising subject. He had suffered from
dyspepsia for months, and was a mis-
cradle looking bird, that seemed bound
TO die anyway. l thought he might as
well die testing my treatment as to
perish in the old-fashioned way being
stuffed to death. l put him in a clean
cage and foe twenty-four hourS put no
food of any kind III the cups. Then L
put in little hemp seed, 50 that the
bird would neither starve nor get
enough to eat. The hemp seed lasted
only part OF the day, and the next
morning l put in some canary seed.
the bird began picking at anu playing
with the canary seed. In a day or two
he had learned to crack and eat it.
lThen l gradually lessened the quantity
,of hemp seed, ard after awhile supplied
nothing but the canary seed.
! "Old bird fanclerS shook their heads
and said the bird could not live on
canary seed alone, and that L was
bound 10 lose him. But l perseyered,
and the result justified me. The bird
steadily improved in condition and
plumage. l have since repeated the
treatment many times with same sue
cess, and have adopted canary seed as
the standard and sole food for my par
rots. Several fancierS and ladies who
have seen my birds, tried it, too, ana l
tell you of it for the benefit of the pub
lie"
do parrots have to be keptin very
warm temperature?"
THAT Is the popular belief, but my
experience has been that parrots can
be made capable of enduring as much
cod rs any other bird"
"Do parrots ever forget what they
have acqulred!'
Indeed they do. Many persons be-
lieve that If they get a good bird it Will
continue to talk well. This is a mis-
take. The memory of a parrot has
often to be refreshed. 4 bird that has
been trained to talk and whistle and
sing would, if left to itself for few
months, forget these accomplishments
and take up the cries and screams of
its wild state''
'DO parrots breed in captlvity?"
They have been bred in France.
But it is troublesome and expensive
task TO do 1t. Besides, the birds are so
excitable and jealous when mating
that they bec.me untitled for pets.
They breed so rapidly in such a wide
extent of territory where they remain
wild that the supply is ample and
cheap, and there is not sufficient in
ducement to Try TO raise them here.